Most Athetic Superstar EVER Step Foot in WWE?

[123NewChamp]

Greetings everyone, I'm pretty sure everyone is familiar with the push of Kofi Kingston since his teaming with R-Truth. And I'm sure he has captivated the eyes of many wrestling fanatics these past few weeks. And one thing I can't help but notice and admire is his athleticism. Now WWE always had great athletic stars. Some went on to have great careers and some WWE dropped the ball on some of them. So Simple Question: Who's the Most Athletic Superstar To Step Foot in WWE?

When great athletes come to mind, I think of folks like Shawn Michaels, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, Brock Lesnar, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Jeff Hardy.

But in my decision I'ma have to go with Kofi Kingston Hands down. Close 2nd, Shelton Benjamin, and 3rd Kurt Angle. In my opinion all 3 are natural gifted athletes. But some of the crazy things Kofi had did throughout his career like Hand stands to prevent eliminations at the Royal Rumble, some of his unorthadox maneuvers, and that Jackie Chan Stunt he did on the Miz last week on Main Event to prevent hitting the steel steps plus his arial ability can't be compared. As for Shelton Benjamin he's just as athletic and do close to the things Kofi can do, but he have more of a technical style than Kofi does. He also been referred as the most athletic man in Sports Entertainment and put on gret matches with Triple H, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels. And as for Kurt, Kurt is a hard worker, and wrestler, and is just natural in the ring. The Dude knows the in's and out of about every move. And very high on stanima. He also had great matches with Benoit, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, RVD, and many others, and really wished we could see a Kurt Angle vs. Bret Hart match back in the day. But I guess some things are not meant to happen. So these are my picks. But I'm sticking to Kofi.

Let's here it. Who's the most athletic superstar to ever step foot in WWE and why?

 

[OldSkoolFranchise]

Goddamn.. that's a hard question. I mean.. honestly.. beyond the preconceptions of the business. , most "athletes" couldn't do what these guys do for twenty minutes.
When you say athlete ... that's so vague. Since we are talking about wrestling.. I have to say.. .as far as the "athletics of wrestling" are concerned... well.. you can't even be in the conversation until you have done an iron man match then. The defining of a wrestling athlete is tough. .. Because you are talking about a whole different set of skills and endurance. As far as it being Kofi... nope. Kofi is an awesome athlete . ... maybe.. I don't know. He's definitely extremely talented and is developing into a real great wrestler.

As far as Athlete are you talking about real world athletics? Are you talking physical IQ? Or are you talking about who is the most physically gifted performer?
Athletics.. its probably Goldberg or Brock. or as the Mark that I am... Mr. Perfect... ( i saw those promo videos.. super athlete 2000)
Physical IQ, probably Angle, CmPunk comes to mind, Bret and Shawn as well Triple H, Flair,
Gifted? The Undertaker, Hogan, Rey, Austin Aries, RVD (his body just bends in ways unthinkable. .. ever seen him laid back-first over a steel railing.. makes you want to cry)

Athletic is real hard to discuss. If you have the old skool wrestling training that lets you wrestle for 40 minutes at a time.. you are an Iron man.. a total freak. As a fat man.. I want to say Beautiful Bobby Eaton, Samoa Joe, Dusty, totally gifted cuz they did what they did.

Can Kofi jump the highest.. maybe... is he becoming amazing to watch.. and this is a real special time to watch him.. sure...
Best Athlete... fuck... thats just tough. Too many great athletes.. at different things... MARK HENRY... Kurt Angle.. One had a record to prove it .. the other had gold medals... followed by Brock who had Gold from another sport.

 

[mesl]

Most WWE wrestlers don't get the ring time to show off their cardio. Sure Kofi might be the greatest athlete on the roster, but it's hard to say for sure given the fact he hasn't had a high paced PPV singles match which lasted over 30minutes etc... But to judge it mathematically you would have to work out the speed × endurance ÷ size (1 being Show to 5 Rey).. Including their size is a must given this is wrestling and not gymnastics.

Off the top of my head.
Lesnar 3x3÷2 4.5 (current run)
Cena 3x4÷2 6
Show 1x2÷1 2
HHH 2x4÷2 4
HBK 4x5÷3 6.6 (prime career)
Rey 5x3÷5 3 (prime career)
Dolph* 4x4÷3 5.3
Angle 4x5÷3 6.6 (prime career)

It's not really a good formula.. but the results seem to add up fairly well for most wrestlers

 

[SyndicateSaint]

Well, I'd have to go with Mr. Perfect or Billy Gunn. it was pretty well known that both guys were pretty athletic beyond wrestling. Billy Gunn's vertical leap alone should be something to consider. I remember a RAW where someone was standing on a table, and Billy straight jumped up and Fame-asser'ed him through it. It was pretty amazing. He was also apparently some sort of track star and great baseball player. As for Hennig, need I say more? Pretty sure he invented the way he sells a punch....that was later adopted by Marty Janetty and of all people Rikishi! If we are going based on size, I'd pick Rikishi for the reason mentioned before, Andre the Giant who was well known for his athleticism before his body wearing down, and Big Show..who I remember hearing that in his last WCW match he was supposed to do a Moonsault on DDP.

 

[Kelso1ftw]

This is tough... so many people have had great athleticism and great wrestling skills and you named a good amount of them. In all honestly I would have to go down to Kurt Angle and Shelton Benjamin. Angle had it all, a great wrestler and performer and is still a huge draw in TNA and Benjamin was a great performer and could sell a move as good as everyone. Everyone remembers him getting sweet chin music'd on raw and that will forever be his significant moment, and giant move in WWE history. Kurt Angle will always be around for being the first WWE Champion to also win a gold medal and how great of a professional wrestler he is. If Benjamin was taken care of more and was pushed right like Cena was he could have been big. WWE has misused a lot of talent and Benjamin was one of them. In terms of moth athletic I would have to go with Benjamin because he was doing spots that not many other people would do, and has had some big spots in terms of moves and WWE history.

 

[theBusiness]

It has to be Kurt Angle. His resume before wrestling speaks for itself. No pun intended, but he won a olympic gold medal with a broken freakin neck. Shelton Benjamin and Brock Lesnar would have to be close seconds. Lesnar combination of size and speed is out of this world. At least the Lesnar from 02-04. His WWE style is obviously much different now.

 

[Redemption-2012]

Personally I believe John Cena or Dolph Ziggler, but it all depends on what you mean by Athlete? Big and muscular or quick and defined like Ziggler. I'd also give a shout out to Ryback. He is an absolute MONSTER!

 

[SuperSteve16]

I think John Morrison is the most athletic superstar, closely followed by Lodi Kingston, Shelton Benjiamin and Evan Bourne. You look at Morrisons matches and you just don't see that athleticism anywhere else

 

[Phil]

Great question, 8 guys come to my mind when you talk about all-rounded pure athleticism:
Hennig, Owen, Billy Gunn, Benjamin, Lesnar, Angle, Kofi and JoMo.
Obviously im taking stamina, strength, speed, technique and jumping/leaping abilities into account. My personal choice would be Brock Lesnar, taking the mans size into consideration all of the attributes I listed above, he has them all and does them with such ease. Pound for pound I would say Lesnar is the purest athlete to ever pro wrestle. Just my opinion people.

 

[Mustang Sally]

To my mind, most pro wrestlers aren't athletes. They're people who can perform the "skill" they're paid to perform, and the thing that separates wrestling from other sports is that your "opponent" isn't really your enemy; he's your partner, charged with the responsibility of making your offense look good while having you return the favor that same evening. Can you think of any other sport that features the same criterion? I can't. Everywhere else, the opponent is working against you, not with you.

Just because a man is huge in size doesn't make him an athlete. Can you imagine Big Show or The Great Khali ever being able to chase down an opponent if the guy wasn't instructed to stand in front of the big man and allow him to deliver punishment?

Can you imagine flying machines like Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara doing what they do in a real fight? What would their offense look like if the opponent wasn't instructed to place himself in the correct spot to receive the punishment when the little guy came down? Sure, Rey and Sin can fly through the air with the greatest of ease, but that hardly makes them athletes.

Guys like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels? Sure, they moved around the ring and performed their acts very well, but I don't see them as true athletes: they're just good wrestlers. Same with the Rock and CM Punk. I don't think they'd cut it in true athletic endeavors.

To me, a true athlete is someone who could excel in endeavors other than pro wrestling. For this topic, I pick Shelton Benjamin. As I see it, he would be proficient if he played soccer, baseball, football, threw the javelin......any-damn-thing he tried. He possesses the musculature, speed, fluidity and grace needed to make his body do whatever he wants it to do. That's an athlete.

 

[ShinobiMusashi]

Gotta throw Rob Van Dam's name in the conversation. His flexibility, speed, and agility were up there among the highest of any pro wrestler of all time in his prime.

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[Jerichoholic8894]

How is it not Kurt Angle? He won a real Olympic medal

 

[OldSchoolWrestlingFan]

There have been so many Athletic wrestlers that have already been named...Mr. Perfect, RVD, John Morrison and list goes on and on but some of the most athletic wrestlers that come to mind seem to be overlooked or overshadowed by so many others. My list is the my top 10 over the most Overlooked Wrestlers in WWE history! (No specific orders-if already names sorry)

Scott Steiner (In his youth-he had an amazing combo of power and agility-remember the shock and awe when he would do the FrankenSteiner)

Billy Kidman, Sabu, Shane Helms, Lance Storm, "Texas Tornado" Kerry Vonerich, Ricky Steamboat, KoKo B-Ware, Mil Mascaras, Kaval, Ultimo Dragon

Honorable Mentions: Bill Demont, Evan Bourne & Daniel Bryan

 

[Toroc102]

I don't know how exactly to define athletic, but I always thought Goldberg was the most amazing superstar I ever saw. He threw people around and it looked like he could kill people with his punches and kicks(and he almost did). And to top it all off, I'd say the Jackhammer is probably the hardest move to pull off on the Big Show in the world(or any variation of a Stalling Suplex), and he made it look easy. He also did it to Reese for further reference.

Brock is a close second. He was so powerful and such a strong wrestler, but his striking wasn't that great, still though, he was able to pull off Shooting Star Presses and he threw pretty much every big man he faced from 2002-2004.

For the littler guys, I'd say Rey Mysterio was the most amazing superstar I ever saw. He pretty much never messed up, he was the master of the Hurricarana, and his moves always looked perfect.

After that, I'd probably say....its hard to narrow it down, the wrestling world is full of some pretty amazing athletes like:

Evan Bourne, Shelton Benjamin, Lance Storm, Shawn Michaels, John Morrison.

I'm sure I'm forgetting about 30 others.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

Athletic implies being an athlete. Given that wrestling is a rehearsed preformance, the only guys you can really consider are guys who have genuinely played or performed in sport at a high level. This means at a minimum College. With that being said the one and only answer, you would think, is Kurt Angle. He won the Olympic Gold medals 'with a broken freakin neck'. lol BUT, I would actually say that Shelton Benjamin demonstrates more athletcism in a pro wrestling ring that Angle does. If John Morrison ever competed in sport I'd have legit gone with him, but alas he didn't. Guys like Rock, Pillman and Goldberg just didn't really show enough in the ring. Pillman I would say got hampered by the car accident, but fell into an amazing gimmick that didn't require athleticism. The shot against Brock actually has to do with his second foray into 'real sport'. In the UFC, he demonstrated nothing but the giant heavy blanket technique and that hurts how people will see his athleticism. truth be told, Brock doesn't win the UFC title from Couture if Randy doesn't get away from his game plan. He was winning the fight until he let himself get grabbed and human blanketed.

 

[theHeadliner]

I remember hearing..."Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome the most charasmatic, flamboyant, and the greatest athlete to ever set foot in the WWF ................" You guys can probably fill in the rest.

And when Bret Hart, who hated him thru the years, still referred to him as the greatest athlete to ever wrestle in the WWF... Even though some guys do even flashier things now, Shawn was doing flashy things when they weren't the status quo.

 

[xavyer]

All the athletes that everyone mentioned here are great, no doubdt, but to me, even if he was there for a short period of time, because let's face it, to me, the WWE drop the ball with this guy big time, is Sean O' Haire, he had some great promos, he was good with the mic, but most importantly, for his size he was a phenomenal athlete, a high flyer even, just watch some of his matches on you tube and you will see how good he really was, but what killed his momentum was the fact that they stuck him in a storyline with Mr. America and Zack Gowan, they didn't really let him show what he's made of, he had to lower himself (athleticly speaking) to their level, they should have put him in matches against Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, RVD or an athlete like that, and i guarantee that those matches could have been awesome.......

 

[braveh]

John Cena and Bobby Lashley are probably monster-weightlifters.

Kurt Angle was outwrestled by that Tough Enough kid on Smackdown

Brock Lesnar was only competitive while UFC had a weak heavyweight division.

.....so maybe Ken Shamrock. He ha legendary battles with Royce Gracie.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I kind of feel like in this conversation you have obvious people like Shelton Benjamin, Brock Lesnar, Kofi Kingston etc, however, you have to include Mark Henry I remember seeing an interview where he said before one of his injuries he was able to do the splits. The fucking splits!! For a man his size that's incredible also he's the worlds strongest and a young Mark Henry was able to do things someone his size shouldn't be able to do he's definitely up there.

 

[Toroc102]

Athletic implies being an athlete.

Here's three definitions of athletic as provided by the freedictionary

ath·let·ic (th-ltk)
adj.
1. Of or befitting athletics or athletes.
2. Characterized by or involving physical activity or exertion; active: an athletic lifestyle; an athletic child.
3. Physically strong and well-developed; muscular: an actor with an athletic build. See Synonyms at

Athleticism doesn't have to do anything with sport. And there are many different ways someone can be athletic. As far as wrestling is concerned there aren't too many people that can manhandle the Big Show like Goldberg or Brock Lesnar could(actually I don't think there are 2), you really only get to see that type of athleticism once every 10 years, but there will always be high flyers(not that i don't appreciate them).

As far as Shelton VS Kurt Angle, Kurt Angle wins hands down in my book, if he had been about 3 inches taller he probably would have been THE MAN in the WWE.

 

[KoC417]

How is it not Kurt Angle? He won a real Olympic medal

He won a gold medal at amateur wrestling. That does not make him the most athletic superstar ever in the WWE. Just means he beat people at the Olympics. There are plenty of athletic men and women who don't enter the Olympics for 1 reason or another.

To me the most athletic Superstar ever in the WWE might have to go to Al Snow. Call me crazy but watch Tough Enough. Watch the ease at which he performs all of the moves. The man is about as talented as it gets. He has the ring awareness, the mental prowess, the ability and the technique.

If you don't like that then ok. Shelton is awesome too. Kofi is a close 2nd to Shelton.

 

[gimz]

has to be shelton benjamin...he could do anythin in the ring and i would love to see shelton benjamin against kofi kingston 1 v 1 in a ladder match it would be awsume to watch

 

[Mebzone]

Amatuer wrestling is more about technique than athleticism. I know amatuer wrestlers that are not athletic at all. I think the majority of the wwe wrestlers are very athletic with the exception of most of the big guys and guys like HHH, Punk, Del Rio. My pick is someome i believe nobody has mentioned yet...The Undertaker. This guy was an amazing athlete in his prime his size, vertical, stregnth, and speed were all amazing. I would also mention guys like hbk, lesnar, kofi, ziggler, billy gunn, angle, benjamin. I think this would be a better thread for tna or even roh because they are known for their great athletes even though wwe puts on a much better show.

 

[Doctor Awesome]

This is very tough to pinpoint as so many guys bring different levels of athletic prowess to the table. We are consistently seeing many of the same names pop up for good reason and some because WWE has labeled certain guys as "natural athletes". I agree w/many on Hennig, Gunn, Angle, Benjamin, Lesnar & Kofi. Out of all of the Shelton may be the most naturally gifted. Since so many modern guys have been covered I'm gonna drop a few old school names; guys who flourished outside the wrestling world before honing their craft in the squared circle and one guy that others love to hate and overlook...

Most atheltic BIG Man (over 300lbs.)- Big Show- Go ahead and start hating but nobody can deny the fact that even though he doesn't dance around the ring like Florence Nightingale he was an NCAA basketball player, when he entered WCW was doing things never saw by a man his size (he would nip-up w/ease at one point) and then Kevin Nash was tired of being overshadowed and told him to stop doing things that made him stand out...

Old School
Verne Gagne- Incredible athlete; flexibility, endurance and gracefulness that he passed down to some of the greatest the biz ever saw.

Stu Hart- Boxer, Wrestler, Football player and shoot fighter. Possibly the toughest man to ever live next to Chuck Norris (lol)

Billy Robinson- Amateur wrestler, catch wrestler and early mma pioneer/trainer. He was said to have icewater in his veins and has maintained the way he was trained in the snake pit into the modern era for wrestling and mma. Possibly the baddest brit ever.

I brought old school guys into the conversation because these guys were so legit tough that you can look at the list of guys they have all trained...they are the men that made men out of many of the guys we see today. The only people to survive their camps were legit athletes (equally mentally and physically tough/gifted)

 

[lil bitch Kid]

Here's three definitions of athletic as provided by the freedictionary

ath·let·ic (th-ltk)
adj.
1. Of or befitting athletics or athletes.
2. Characterized by or involving physical activity or exertion; active: an athletic lifestyle; an athletic child.
3. Physically strong and well-developed; muscular: an actor with an athletic build. See Synonyms at

Athleticism doesn't have to do anything with sport. And there are many different ways someone can be athletic. As far as wrestling is concerned there aren't too many people that can manhandle the Big Show like Goldberg or Brock Lesnar could(actually I don't think there are 2), you really only get to see that type of athleticism once every 10 years, but there will always be high flyers(not that i don't appreciate them).

As far as Shelton VS Kurt Angle, Kurt Angle wins hands down in my book, if he had been about 3 inches taller he probably would have been THE MAN in the WWE.

UMMM, I have to point out that Goldberg and Brock were able to 'manhandle' Big Show because Big Show let them, because it is scripted. Hogan doesn't slam Andre if Andre doesn't go along with it, Champ. You want to talk pure strength, then Mark Henry, Cena and whoever it was that pressed Rikishi years ago, all fit. But that DOES NOT make them the best athletes. As for Angle vs Shelton, why do you think that?